


Déjà Vu

by Rose Gold (HailsRose)



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Apparently there's no platonic relationship tag for Cole and Vania so I guess I'm changing that, Comfort, Deja Vu, Family, Gen, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HailsRose/pseuds/Rose%20Gold
Summary: As Cole prepares for his battle against Vangelis, he finds himself in a familiar position. He should have seen it coming: Vania isn't the first golden-haired youngster he's had to comfort about evil fathers.PODFIC read by WhaleKingdom
Relationships: Cole & Vania (Ninjago)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	Déjà Vu

**Author's Note:**

> Finally finished watching Master of the Mountain and... I liked it. I liked it a lot.
> 
> There are somethings I would have liked that weren't there but I still rather enjoyed watching it. It was nice seeing Cole finally get a season dedicated to him. And Vania was adorable!
> 
> This fic is just kind of my take on that scene in episode 14 when Cole is learning how to use the mech. I don't know if it was intentional but it hurled me back into season 1-2 nostalgia, so I thought I would capitalize on the momentum and write some Cole-Accidentally-Being-A-Parent-Again vibes.

Sensei has the look on his face. Cole knows the one, _the look._ The _"_ _Sensei is so completely, utterly done with us"_ look as Jay so helpfully dubbed it during one of his pre-dawn meltdowns. It was after they almost blew up the kitchen trying to grab toast and juice before sunrise exercise.

It's been around forever. When the old monastery stood on the hilltop, they had just gotten settled into their rooms, and True Potential seemed like such a faraway dream. The Golden Weapons weren't toys but at the time, they sure had been content to treat them as such, and Sensei wasn't afraid to let them know what he thought about it.

They'd all come so far.

Cole chuckles apologetically, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, Sensei."

With a deep breath, he sets his hands back to the crystals and wills the mech to life. He's had several, fantastic crashes in the past hour and everyone, even Cole, is beginning to tire of it. But they're unwilling to quit—Sensei won't let them and neither will Cole. Vangelis' throne perches on a mountain of crimes he needs to answer for.

Consumed by the urgent way time slips between his fingers and the desperation to save his family, Cole pours his mind and body into practice much the same way he'd do so on the _Bounty_ or the practice dummies. He trains the way his mind races in the heat of battle, obsessively, with repetition and balance, focus and endurance, until his body knows the moves by reflex and he can execute them unerringly. He trains until he can do a triple lutz in this thrice-damned mech and he refuses to take anything other than perfection.

 _Almost like dancing,_ his mind supplies. But without the disapproving stares or tongue clicking from a knot of professionals criticizing a seven-year-old. Just Sensei with his no-nonsense look. No self-depreciation or fearfully expressed regrets, only a warm desire to teach him how to do it right.

Soon Cole can glide the perimeter of the temple grounds, absent of the ability to collide with anything other than a well-timed blow to knock an enemy's skull clean off. Vangelis' army of awakened warriors don't stand a chance and that's all the encouragement Cole needs to start making heads roll. Before they leave, Sensei Wu allows him a few minutes to bask in the glory of the Earth Masters' temple and feel their power pulsing through him. It's left unspoken that he must kneel to see if his resolve and sweat-drenched body will soak in the understanding needed for a Spinjitzu Burst.

He bows his head, steadies his breathing, and folds his hands over one another. He listens, quiet, rife with intent as the spirits of the old masters whisper to him. With honesty at the forefront, Cole considers it the most incomprehensible whispering he's ever heard and he's had to sift through several of his teammates' hissing through the crummy filter of their communicators in the dead of night. Even though he silently hopes for his mother's voice, he receives just those faint sibilations that don't mean a thing.

All in all, he'd rather eat cake.

A flash of gold enters the corner of his eye. Vania leans down to stare at him, expression pinched in curiosity. That's been around forever too. Though Cole can't quite remember where he's seen it before.

"Pssst," Vania whispers. Sensei must have sent her to fetch him. "Hey. Pssst- _hey!_ " She prods his cheek as if wondering if he's asleep.

Cole groans something soulful and watches as Vania winces, convinced he's directed it at her. Remorse ricochets off of him at the realization. He offers her a kind smile to make up for it.

"Hey, kiddo," he asks automatically. This is... familiar. He doesn't know from where but it fizzes just out of reach of his memories and mockingly so. "Time to go?"

"Yeah," Vania replies in a tone that's naturally quiet, one Cole has grown to recognize means dread or an emotion perpendicular to it. She's holding herself back for him. Now, that won't do.

Cole slides to his feet, aware of how much he towers over her and how much that must unsettle her. Even if she admires him and calls him the best of all the ninja, she always seems to possess a thinly-veiled unease, that too which he recognizes. Cole doesn't do much of the leaderly thinking these days, that chore falls to Lloyd and he's constantly insistent it stays his alone. But Cole knows fear when he sees it in someone he cares about.

"Are you ready?"

Vania fidgets, her fingers twining and untwining together while her teeth drag across her lip. He muses on how long she'd been standing in the temple before she interrupted him, how long she chewed on her thoughts and how much time she tried to buy herself to avoid the oncoming fight—it doesn't take a genius to figure out the root of her anxiety. But he waits for her to say something, not daring to coax it out himself unless the situation calls for it.

"No," Vania says at last. "I'm not ready at all."

Again and again, Cole finds himself reminded of a situation exactly like this. He's had to still his teammates' fears during the warm-ups to particularly harsh battles, pull them into a tight huddle, and assure them, _give them his word_ that he'd do everything he could to make sure they came out safe on the other side.

"Your father?" Cole replies.

Vania's face falls, shimmering locks of hair floating past her brow to shield her from him and his judgment. Cole has no judgment though, only knowing. His trifle with his father wasn't on Vania's scale but it still screws with him to this day, settles nightmares onto him when he least expects or wants it to.

"I'm going to have to face him, aren't I?"

...

_Oh._

With crystal clarity, a deluge of understanding gushes in Cole's soul. He remembers precisely what this reminds him of.

Suddenly, it isn't Vania staring up at him, eyes bright with child-like innocence, begging him to see the issue for what it really is. It isn't Vania, dressed in hopeful, vibrant colors illuminating the darkness when no one else has the strength. It isn't Vania, on the verge of tears and terrified out of her mind, panic edging into her high voice, trembling on the black shores of the Dark Island as Lord Garmadon wreaks havoc galore, maniacally laughing in the face of their uncertainty.

_It's Lloyd._

Of course, this is familiar.

It just makes sense.

He should have known the second Vania intruded on the temple in much the same manner Lloyd always used to as a tot. He's been a nuisance in more ways than one, whining and talking back and otherwise being the brat straight from the gates of the Underworld. He'd fluffed up all the cooking utensils when Zane tried to teach him how to cook, rewired Jay's and Nya's joint projects, pounced on Kai's shoulders for an impromptu piggyback ride then sent the both of them sprawling to the floor in a heap of laughter, all of which Cole recollects in fondness.

Lloyd had just been a kid when the fate for patricide fell on his shoulders and no matter how hard they tried, video games and dessert and prank wars aside, it seemed impossible to give him the childhood he deserved.

He has to wonder how much of Vania's childhood has been stolen from her by being born into the role of a princess. Though, he forces himself to slam the breaks on that particular train of thought. If he pursues it for too long, chances are he'd damage Vangelis far more than is strictly merited.

Cole inhales, chest tight, world-weary. Then exhales, deeply, peacefully. He has to be honest.

"You will," he says. Vania flinches as if she never expected to hear it confirmed out loud. A thin, nasally pitch informs Cole that he's a terrible person for not cushioning the blow. But trying to sugarcoat the truth of things never helps anyone, especially not those who need to be comforted. He knows from experience. He gingerly places his broad hands on her shoulders. "And I get it. It's scary. But I'll be with you every step of the way. I won't leave you to face it alone."

"But what if I have to?" Vania asks at length. "You can't..." she chokes on a sob, her breath hitches, and tears trickle down her cheeks. "You can't guarantee that I- that he... my father-"

Her whole body shakes as she comes apart, seized by horror and all the things a kid like her doesn't deserve to have thrust upon her frame. A great sorrow floods out of her. Cole tilts her head up just as she breaks down and gingerly brushes her hair out of her face. He cups her cheeks, as gentle as he can mold himself to be, wipes her tears away with his thumbs, and touches his forehead to hers.

"You're right... I can't guarantee that things will go alright. But I'm going to do everything within my power to make sure I don't leave you alone."

* * *

_Lloyd looks up at him, hands fisted into Cole's gi so tight it nearly suffocates. The golden glow of the Temple of Light has yet to fade, he's so vibrant and perfect and simultaneously too old yet not old enough to be entrusted with a destiny so vast. Cole wants to protect him, to place himself in front of Lloyd, and demand Garmadon face him instead. But he knows he isn't strong enough to defy destiny, abetting in diverting it away would only ensure that it slingshots back to them with more vehemence._

_So he does what he's permitted instead._

_"You promise?" Lloyd asks, betrayed by a broken tone and his puffy eyes welling up again. "You promise you'll be there for me?"_

_A pang of guilt hurtles across Cole's chest. He can't promise. Trying to make a promise on this team merely brings you grief. But he can gift his best impression that he's going to try. He nods._

_Lloyd collapses against him, wailing, and Cole's got the good sense to expect it. He fumbles for a bit but manages to get them to the sandy ground safely. Lloyd buries himself against his big brother, unable to stop crying despite that it might attract unwanted Stone Warriors to their position. But Cole doesn't stop him. Lloyd has needed to cry for so long, Cole's both relieved he is and upset at his own inability to soothe it._

_The ocean washes up to lick their gi, as ongoing as the flow of the world as it courses through an elemental master's blood._

_Lloyd cries until the sun rises._

* * *

Cole stares at Vania, conviction flowing through his veins. His eyebrows furrow, he hardens himself, _knowing_ he's going to right all these wrong and stand up against those who Vania needs him to and hopefully guide her into replicating it.

His vow comes out muted and stoic. Uncontested.

"I promise."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Déjà Vu(PODFIC)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28070385) by [WhaleKingdom (BadFeelin)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadFeelin/pseuds/WhaleKingdom)




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